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Don’t have much time to write but am determined to not let my current mood spiral into a depressive episode so I need to get this out somewhere. I’ve been feeling pretty good lately… some days I mean aren’t that great or anything but I feel like I’ve been able to keep my head above ground without sputtering/nearly drowning for about a week which is really good for me. Today is really the first day in a while that I feel I could easily fall into the same dark habits of the past… so I want to battle it.

Something is wrong with my body today, and it scares me because it reminds me of the depressed me. I’m super sluggish for no reason. Because of my manic energy from 2 days ago, I was barely getting any sleep but last night I took melatonin and slept a good 8 hours. I shouldn’t be so tired today but slept at my desk for like an hour… ugh. I’m once again having that “need for isolation feeling” also where I’m feeling like answering any type of text message is a chore, and also that everyone secretly hates me.

It’s funny too because I had lunch with Christie today and I swear I was in a much better headspace earlier in the day. We even talked about how stupid it is to obsess over what other people think of us, or how we’re being portrayed. We agreed that the times we were super self conscious around others were times when we were projecting our insecurities onto other people and deciding FOR them how they feel about us.

I sent some wedding invites late and felt so much shame about it… feeling like I really fucked up and because I sent these invites late, the people I sent them to would hate me. I still feel that way and am wondering if that’s partially why I’m feeling sad today. The sadness rolled in some time after lunch and now it’s kinda just sitting here clouding my head and my judgement. Nothing else really happened today… I just sat and worked. I guess maybe one of the notes I got upset me since it was almost a total redraw but rationally I know it shouldn’t upset me. So why? I guess I’m also feeling some guilt about how I didn’t feel like approaching people to talk today, even though I really wanted to and it made me think like “Am I really making enough of an effort to be the nice friendly person I wanna be? Maybe not… how do I force myself to do that?”

I just left work instead of make myself go socialize and succumbed to the pressure of my old habits. Is that why I’m sad? Or maybe I’m sad cuz I wanted to lose all this weight before the wedding but I’ve been royally slacking off lately and today was the first time I ran in like a week. And maybe that’s what’s making me tired? Maybe my body is already not used to physical activity and I feel like all the efforts I made before to lose the 31 lbs I’ve already lost are just being overrided by shit food.

Ugh who knows… but I’m trying to just empty my head of all this useless shit to hopefully make it so I can do what I need to do. But you know what makes me sad? I feel like I never have fun anymore, you know? I miss having fun… but really feel like anytime I wanna have fun, I should be doing something else instead. It’s the bane of my existence really… not knowing how to relax. Maybe that’s why I’m so exhausted? I dunno…

I guess I also feel bad about the wedding. Another one of my bridesmaids might not be able to make it and I feel terrible that the thing is in Hawaii and that people feel pressured to go. What have I done to myself and my guests? Complicated all this shit and made them jump through hoops to what? Just watch me and Eddy get married? Was this really the best decision? Ugh I mean I’m learning a lot but… I GUESS THAT’S WHY I FEEL SO UPSET TODAY. I FEEL LIKE I’M GOING BACKWARDS.

Ok Elora, listen up. You may feel like you’re going backwards and losing all the progress you’ve made thus far, but you’re not. You know why? Cuz you’re writing here. That’s right! This is a different behavior than normal! Instead of just wallowing, you’re trying to approach this rationally and think it through, separate yourself from it. GOOD FUCKING JOB. I know you don’t wanna spiral, and because you’ve done this… you won’t. Trust me.

I was thinking in the car too about how sad it is that people live their lives in their own little bubble. Our soul and mind are self contained in this vessel that is our body, and that’s so inherently lonely it’s upsetting to think about. I just finished watching GLOW season 2 and boy was it powerful. I dunno why that show is marketed as a comedy because really, there is SOOO much great dramatic acting and complex character development. Something I love that the show does too is how they portray the loneliness of people… everyone is going through all this dark emotional shit but the people around them don’t know that they are unless that person mentions it, you know? If we choose to keep all our pain to ourselves, we’re just gonna implode. And I guess that makes me sad, and also makes me wonder if we can truly ever be happy.

You know I’ve felt pretty happy this past week or so, even though I’ve had minor freakouts and have the normal feeling that time is passing by too quickly. Which is why today is so jarring. But you know what, I already feel better. Something else I was thinking about today in the same vein as above is that, because we’re all so alone, it’s IMPERATIVE that we befriend ourselves. Amy called it becoming your own partner in crime, which I really love. We all feel so alone but if we can successfully manage to feel like we are our own friend, we’ll never be alone. I’ve been feeling that a lot more lately, that I’ve been becoming my own friend, but we’re just getting to know each other so maybe this is a hiccup. Or maybe it’s just, the darkness transforming itself into my buddy, but having some difficulty along the way as she turns into light? I dunno. But I think I’m sufficiently emptied of emotion and can continue with my day. I gotta get SOME of this video done before collapsing to sleep… as much as I want to do that right now.

As boring as this post is, I feel like we’ve made a breakthrough of some kind here. Thank you, inner me.

“…but look. This one is late. I’ll bet when it blooms it’ll be the most beautiful of all.” – Fa Zhou, Mulan’s dad

Geez I just realized that my last entry was over a week ago. I kept telling myself “I’m too tired, it’s too hot, I’ll write tomorrow” and tomorrow came and went… EIGHT TIMES!! Wow. I’m consistently blown away by the passage of time.

A lot has happened since the last entry which has taught me a lot, including watching Mulan, Han getting attacked in the eye by another dog at a 4th of July BBQ, getting back on Facebook after 2 years, having to deal with an insane heat wave, listening to a Steve Martin master class on comedy, the experience of going to the Comedy Store as one of our fav comedians’ guests, playing this game called Detroit: Become Human about androids gaining consciousness, and not being able to sleep last night. What a long run on sentence.

Mulan — late bloomer tendencies… realizing that its ok, and more and more coming to terms with everyone being on the same path. mulan is a great reminder of that. I’m not sure if it’s the changing times that has caused this, but I think watching movies is a different experience now since they’re so short compared to the longer streaming format which allows for a longer journey with the characters. Especially how the structure of these movies is, it’s very nostalgic in the sense that it’s formulaic, what I’m used to, and what I grew up with as a kid that taught me lessons back then. They feel like FABLES now, and I’m really paying attention to the lessons that they try to teach to children, and I feel teach subconsciously.

Mulan actually made me feel a LOT better about myself. Through this whole journey that I’ve gone on the past couple years I’ve realized that my childhood has stagnated my growth in a way that I have to learn to deal with in order to move forward with my life. I was very overprotected and didn’t get to be exposed to much. I grew up on TV, videogames, and amusement parks rather than learning how to socialize with other kids, play outside, and work as a team. My personality type longed for hands on experiences, but I focused instead on getting good grades and trophies. Learning about the myers briggs function stacks, I see that I was forced to function at my lower stack for the majority of my young life, so by the time I went out into the world I could ONLY be a late bloomer. But of course I could never see that, and not seeing just made the pattern continue until it all exploded in my face in my mid to late 20s.

Going back on Facebook has been a surprise, and not for the reason I was expecting. I thought I would never go back on facebook and continue this defiance, but at some point I realized that not going back on facebook was synonymous with continuing to run from my fears. I keep saying that this was an irrational fear, but I can totally rationalize it now. When I started being really active on fb, “collecting” friends, interacting with people and feeling like they cared about me… feeling POPULAR… I got addicted.

Looking back now too, I spread myself so thin and always tried to respond to everyone, to hang out with everyone, because I didn’t want to become “irrelevant.” Now knowing about my bipolar, I can look back and see that this was when I lived in a pretty manic state, for months at a time, maybe even like a year. EVERYONE knew me because I was constantly EVERYWHERE, at gallery shows, wrap parties, conventions… even though I wasn’t working in the industry, I was everywhere in the industry and I loved it. At least I thought I did. But of course that’s not sustainable, which is why being bipolar is so dangerous… I THOUGHT it was. Thinking back on it, I barely ever even slept working in Orange Country, taking classes in Pasadena, going to the Magic Castle all the time, doing homework and driving constantly to events from OC to LA.

I stupidly felt like it was my purpose to be bubbly, entertaining, and elevate other people to make them happy. I wanted to be everything for everyone…I wanted to make them feel loved and be loved in return, which resulted in a lot of pain, jealousy and feelings of worthlessness. After being sheltered for so long, the world was NEW. I wanted it all at once and I wanted it to want me back, but that’s such an unrealistic expectation to put on yourself and other people. The crash was REALLY hard. It took YEARS of depression and meeting a patient guy who could see the real me crying out for help to even get to the point I’m at now. Total Tiny Rick situation lol.

It’s like… suddenly the fog is clearing and I’m gaining all this clarity of my past. But the best part is, everything I’m encountering lately I feel is pointing me in the right direction. It’s validation that I’m on the path I need to be on… and that’s a great feeling. Synchronicity.

Anyway, the reason I’m surprised now getting back on FB is because I DON’T CARE as much as I thought I would. I thought I would easily fall back into my old patterns, but I guess I’ve done enough growing to where I don’t care about being irrelevant. I don’t feel the need to catch up with everyone all at once, or check up on people and feel left out because they’re doing stuff without me. It’s almost like a part of “ego death”… it’s my “social media ego death.” I feel… free O_O And it’s AMAZING! I’m finally learning how to adapt to this crazy society! (I think)

I thought I would be floundering around forever, never making any real changes in my life and I would die with a ton of regret, but surprisingly I can tell that I’m making actual progress by really becoming aware of my shifts of mindset. I recognize now that embracing the fact that I AM a late bloomer is liberating me from the shackles of the past and accepting that everything that came before this present moment makes me who I am, and who I am is a beautiful thing. The set of circumstances that have brought me here is a miracle, and I need to always remember that. If I wasn’t a “late bloomer” maybe I wouldn’t be as introspective, maybe I wouldn’t feel the world like how I’m beginning to feel it, and I definitely wouldn’t be surrounded by people that have taught me unconditional love.

I think I’m starting to come to terms with what it means to be alive… and that’s heavy shit for me.

So much more to talk about but I gotta go back to work for now! Couldn’t sleep last night so I’m running on manic energy and it feels so gooodddd! I never need coffee hehehee!

“Ah, yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it…or learn from it.” – Rafiki, The Lion King

Woke up this morning and finished Lion King… it’s funny how my un-high mind has a hard time communicating thoughts in a stream of consciousness way. This was so much easier last night! My sober mind was still JUST as affected by this movie though… it’s SUCH a beautiful thing when something can be so relatable and touch your heart in a way that makes you want to be a better person.

Eddy always talks about how similar I am to Simba in terms of wanting to run away from all my problems. Really… Hakuna Matata is SO GREAT. Simba was in really bad shape when he was chased away from Pride Rock, and he would totally have been dead if Timon and Pumbaa didn’t find him. Timon says to Simba “You gotta put your past behind ya. Look kid, bad things happen and you can’t do anything about it. When the world turns the back on you, you turn your back on the world.”

Simba does eventually learn to put the past behind him, but he needed this period of isolation and “turning his back on the world” to subconsciously rack up the courage to do so. There’s no WAY he could’ve survived to take on Scar without living the “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle first. He needed to HEAL dammit!! And it’s really nice to remember that! ;_;

Gosh what I would GIVE to live that kinda life… I don’t think I’d even mind eating bugs! Living peacefully out in the woods, looking up at the stars at night, not having any worries or problems… really sounds like the way to go. It’s the way of the shaman! I’m so annoying to Eddy by this point how when I get into my horrible moods I immediately jump to running away, faking my death, and living on an island somewhere. He never entertains these thoughts, but I constantly bring them up anyway because when I’m in a bad place, it’s definitely the easiest solution to turn to.

However what Lion King reminds me of is that can only last so long… Eddy always brings it up too. He KNOWS that over time I would get restless living that kinda life, because I’m meant for greater things. Well… not so much that second part. He urges me to just live in the moment because this is it. The moment that we’re living right now, THIS is life. Even if I were to escape, my “grass is greener” mentality still wouldn’t let me be happy. I need to change that whole outlook first, and I think slowly it’s finally starting to happen 🙂

Lion King is great because, even though we’re not all royalty, meant to grow into a role of king or queen, it suggests that we have to learn to put the past behind us and embrace what’s happening in our current life. We can’t just run away forever, and we have to look within us to remember where we’re from, and who we are.

Especially now after losing my dad, I feel like I’ve become a completely different person. I’m starting to care about real shit, rather than focusing on my internal stress and worry all the time. I would go so far as to say… going through my dad’s death forced me on the path of “growing up,” something that I was fighting for so long because my mom always tried to force me to grow up and I naturally rebelled. It’s interesting how in all these Disney movies, or in tons of movies in general, the parents or someone important to the main character dies. In so many things, even Magic The Gathering, the “spark” within is ignited by a traumatic event, waking up the person to become a Planeswalker.

It’s easy to become complacent, but certain events in our life are a “call to action” and we have to make a choice to become who we’re meant to be or stay stagnant. Watching Mufasa come out of the clouds to remind Simba who he really is… that’s some powerful shit. It’s so dumb but I can almost see my own dad coming out of the clouds to remind me to embrace this life I was given and really go for it. Not like I’m a king or anything, but there’s so much I wanna do with this life I was given that I’ve chosen to neglect because of the stupid past. Hearing Mufasa’s booming voice say “Remember who you are” is that call to action I needed… and it’s nice to know that if I’m ever feeling down or that feeling of stagnation to just watch The Lion King. I’ve always loved this movie but, I think more than any other Disney movie, the meaning has changed so much for me in my adult life that it can be a powerful tool for kicking my ass out of depressive episodes.

It’s so easy to let the past rule our lives and mess up what we SHOULD be paying attention to, so much so that it cripples us to actually LIVE. The Lion King is a great reminder that we need to have the courage to take responsibility over who we are and who we’re meant to be, because it affects those around us. As much as I love Moana because it helped me cope with my dad’s death when it was still VERY fresh, I think Lion King deals with similar themes even better than Moana, in a deeper more adult fashion. There’s so much death and darkness in it, but that’s fucking life.

Lol Black Panther dealt with similar themes too, in such a similar fashion. Man life is hard and responsibility sucks, but it’s just a part of it. Sigh. Gotta work harder. Thank goodness I’m not some secret royalty… seems like that would make it even worse haha! I’m grateful for my life, and also for having the dad that I had…I can’t take that for granted. Something I need to remember moving forward.

“Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. Whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I.“ – Mufasa, TheLion King

I think I just discovered why the saying “this is the life” exists. I’m currently super baked, watching The Lion King with Eddy and sitting with a cute tired Han and being like “this is the best day. This is why life is worth living. If I could just always feel like this I’d be happy, but it’s ok if I don’t because just knowing that this exists should make me happy and accept the temporary-ness of life. THAT’S true happiness, and I can understand this concept because I believe I am currently witnessing what true happiness is. Life is so simple!!! It’s living totally in the moment with the most important people/pets in life bf doing something that makes you feel like you could last an eternity in THIS EXACT MOMENT. I believe this is what love truly is — an eternity. No wonder there are all those eternity rings!

There are two main topics I wanna get to for this entry but I dunno if I’ll get to them both. Why?

1. Because I’m at 3% on my phone and way too comfy on this couch to go charge it. I’m living on the edge folks! Typing with my fingers at the speed of light! Geez can you believe cell phones actually exist right now? Don’t things like this make you feel like you live in the future? But when you think about it, is it the future that was MARKETED to us?! Everything is marketed to us! America is SO EVIL but we can’t help but live here cuz we’re human! We are the villains of the world! Sigh. I don’t want things to be like that anymore 😦 Damn I went on a tangent.

2. The only reason I’m typing this is because Eddy is taking a shit so we’re taking a break from the lion king, and I don’t wanna fall asleep. Cuz I’m tired as fuck! We had such a tiring ass day but accomplished SOOOOO MUCH! Including getting wedding bands! Ugh I wish I took a pic of both our rings!! 😦 What a bummer I dunno why I didn’t think of it. Here I’ll post pics I have though lol and one of eddy wearing the darker ring (he ended up getting a tungsten one that looks like iron). We tried on so many rings today and it reminded me of trying on wedding dresses. Just cuz it’s pretty doesn’t mean it feels right! That’s a lesson huh?

Ok another tangent. Whoops! I really wanted this to be about the Lion King! Cuz damn rewatching this shit as an adult is AMAZINGGGG!!

I can’t possibly get into how this movie is making me feel. This bit here where Mufasa is “punishing” Simba and telling him that dad’s get scared too and basically showing simba his vulnerable side and really legitimately teaching something to his child, who up until that point has seen his dad as the ultimate hero, someone who has no fear, and isn’t an actually person (in this case Lion). Ugh and telling him he’ll always be with him and all the shit about the kings in the stars…GOD. I’d love to think that all our dead fathers are in the stars. Honestly I never thought my dad would die…I was so naive, till such a late age (27)!! What happened to me as an adult, Simba experience as a child in Lion King. Dude this bit shook me up so bad, I was crying up a storm. Han actually came up to comfort me too! His service dog training is working and he actually used it for the first time!! Having a dog is so great ;—;

THIS SCENE HERE THIS WRECKED ME!! REALLY LISTEN TO WHAT MUFASA IS SAYING! Gosh this especially hurts if you lost a dad…I used to WATCH this with my dad not realizing how lucky I was to still have a dad to watch it with…

But Seriously, Simba goes through SOOO MUCH SHIT!! Scar is THE ULTIMATE DISNEY VILLAIN honestly!!

Eddy is done shitting so here are some notes for future me:

talk about dictator scar, include video of be prepared. Nods to hitler and the nazis, the lyrics is like real life, a selfish bitter dude preying on the weak and feeble minded (NOTE FROM FUTURE ME: too fucking tired to go into this so I’ll just put the video here instead. It’ll come back when watching I promise)

then link to when scar kills Mufasa (NOTE FROM FUTURE ME: lol damn this has 1.6 MILLION views. Weird how the internet basically can show you society’s relevance of certain things in media)

and how he handles Simba at the end. Find a gif of Simba sliding down his legs and you can seein his eyes the guilt and fear of being led to believe he killed his own father. (NOTE FROM FUTURE ME: Wow you really can find mostly everything as a gif on the internet nowadays huh…I can’t believe this internet thing happened during my lifetime. What a beginning to be a part of. Almost like the onset of the printing press or the lightbulb. What is this doing to our minds?! Well I’ll tell you this, if I didn’t have a cell phone, I’d be sleeping right now HAHA)

Then scar even tries to kill him after! Jesus leave the poor kid alone!

So many layers to this goddamn thing. Sucks they stole from Kimba though but what I realized is every story is a translation of another of another story! But Damn Disney you really should’ve just given Kimba credit! 😦 1% battery I live on the edge!

OMMGGG HAKUNA MATATA! Ok we are way too exhausted and need to go to sleep. So excited for the 2nd half of the movie!

LOL I was just looking up Mufasa quotes and I shouted “MANNNNN. Mufasa…” and Eddy did this

Today was a great day 🙂 Good night!

(FUTURE ELORA SPEAKING: I came back to insert links now that Eddy is asleep and my phone was at 1% and moving so slow it basically FelT like it was at 1% but it was so amazing cuz as SOON as I plugged it in, it parked up and totally worked fine again!! Technology is amazing and scary. Batteries…amirite?

Also random thought — do you ever wonder how people view you from the outside? Like…how to not see yourself as yourself? It’s hard but I think I did it today. And from the outside, I guess I’m doing alright 🙂 It’s important to try and see our lives as other people would sometimes 🙂 I think it would always be better than what a lot of us somehow get stuck in thinking if we’re depressed or in a bad mood. I wanna make a future where I feel like THIS more of the time!)

oh wow another post entry note (almost wrote “post post”…would’ve been so stupid). I was looking for that Simba gif I called out earlier and found this interesting article, The Lion King and the Stages of Grief. (“For the Love of Stori s”…what a great name. Glad so many people recognize the importance of story!) This movie is therapeutic as shit. I’m telling you I can’t see it the same way ever again now that I’ve lost my own dad. Now it’s a healing movie.

One again, because the Lion King is such a masterpiece, I HAVE to call out the original source material, Kimba the White Lion. Everyone should know about this of course, but I believe Lion King is STILL a masterpiece. Yes it’s Kimba meets Hamlet but I believe that makes it the strongest Disney movie in terms of story. They succeeded in writing a great movie (albeit the STRONG influence from Kimba :|), crafting great characters, getting a great cast and having AMAZING animation, which translated these stories for a bigger audience. The craftsmanship put into this thing is really an amazing and beautiful magic trick which should be admired. However, credit where credit is due. So much of Lion King seems ripped from Kimba…I wish they just said something… what did they think? No one would ever find out?! What a bummer 😦

Could feel the mania building. Eddy kept telling me to go to sleep and felt an urge to go back in room and keep working but he actually locked my room. First time he’s done that. It made me go psycho and he had to throw me down and pin me to the bed till I stopped flailing like old times. If he sees the light on in here he comes in and turns it off. Starting to calm down….super tired from fighting him. So grateful to have him in my life and glad he’s heavier than me and knows martial arts to keep me in check. Really don’t wanna slip into the old habits…hopefully sleep will come easy.

I am NOT in a good mood. It’s super weird because this whole week I’ve been generally ok during the day, but at night I throw these horrible tantrums. It’s becoming more and more clear that my indecision is such a stress factor in my life. Like right now…

I CAN’T EVEN STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS RIGHT BECAUSE I’M SO TENSE.

What ends up happening is that I curl up every part of my body… I think it’s actually resulted in ankle problems and this week, a horrible stiff neck because I just can’t relax. I think it’s because it’s hitting me really hard how little time I have, and Han has been SUPER annoying. I love him and hate him at the same time. It’s so goddamn hard to have a puppy when you can’t just give it your full attention and you keep feeling guilty when it looks sad and lonely. Dogs add so much to our life but are also a huge sacrifice… it really was a bad idea to get him while doing all this wedding shit. And SPEAKING OF. I FEEL LIKE IT’S SO MY FAULT ALL THESE THINGS WE’VE DECIDED TO DO. Some days I’m ok with it but today is one of those days where I am just SO PISSED OFF AT MYSELF at the decision to, for example, MAKE KAKAMORA. I feel so terrible for Eddy having drilled all these holes in coconuts and it looked so dangerous.

Where I’m getting ready for the wedding has been giving me all this anxiety the entire time because my planner and photographer and videographer keep asking where I’m getting ready but I hate how our AirBnB looks cuz I got it for cheapness! So whatever today I booked a room at a resort for the actual wedding day and day before, and was happy with my decision at first but then felt like backing out again! I OBSESSED ABOUT THIS FOR HOURS!!! I SERIOUSLY COULD’VE GOTTEN SOOO MUCH DONE IN THE TIME I JUST READ REVIEWS ABOUT THE PLACE I HAD ALREADY BOOKED!! And all it did was make me feel sorry for myself that I was impulsive and made a bad decision again, plus rope Eddy’s cousin into it… and now she can’t even get out of it.

ONLY TO LAND ON THE DECISION THAT THIS IS THE BEST DECISION!!! WTF IS WRONG WITH ME?! And right after that I went straight for the kakamora to be like “UGH THESE AREN’T LOOKING EXACTLY LIKE HOW I WANT THEM TO LOOK” and making Eddy feel terrible AGAIN.

WHY DO I DO THIS?!?! It’s seriously SO FUCKED UP that it’s PAINFUL.

Eddy asked if I was manic and I really fucking hope not. I think the way to salvage this is probably sleep… because Han will never let us sleep in anyway and I’ll have to wake up at 7am at the absolute latest anyway. And Han super pissed me off today cuz he ate a pile of human shit over by the homeless encampment at the park then just kept running. One of our dog friends was even trying to help me catch him and he kept running away all the while chomping at the shit in his mouth. SO FUCKING UPSETTING. Sometimes I love that he’s a troublemaker and other times I absolutely hate it.

I JUST FEEL LIKE SUCH A MONSTER AT NIGHT LATELY. I LIKE TURN INTO A DIFFERENT PERSON AND IT PISSES ME OFF!!! IS THIS EVEN HELPING?! I still feel SO TENSE that it hurts! When I’m like this I seriously like… FEEL my face and body contorting into awful shapes but just can’t get out of this mindset.

Or is that just the story I’m telling myself?

UGH Why did “you got off work at 4pm today and you haven’t done shit” JUST POP INTO MY HEAD?! FUCK YOU MIND. SERIOUSLY FUCK YOU.

IS THIS HELPING?!

I need to calm my ass down. What a useless fucking entry. Did this even release some steam?! DID IT?! God. I’m just gonna get off this damn computer and try to sleep I guess. Fuck it.

“You have a lot of first world problems. You complain about wanting to travel more, or if people who already like you actually like you. Frankly I don’t think you should be complaining about all the small stuff” – Eddy Chow

Just had a hard talk with Eddy… and I feel so terrible. We’ve been together for almost 4 and a half years and for some reason a lot of stuff has been coming up lately. He mentioned how he feels like I’ve had a continuing resentment toward him… always envious or bitter about whatever he’s doing, when he’s never especially happy doing anything. But somehow I always think he is. Somehow this “grass is greener” mentality STILL hasn’t gone away. I feel like I’ve been doing SO MUCH to strengthen my mind, change myself for the better, etc… and SOMEHOW the person I love the most in the world has fallen by the wayside. I’m about to MARRY this person, and I can’t even take care of him. Instead I always wish he would take more care of ME, or think about MY feelings. Ugh it’s so disgusting to even just write that down. How am I still this selfish!?

Goddamn. What a thing to admit is actually true about yourself. Here I was thinking I was making all this progress, but suddenly the selfishness rears its ugly head. And apparently it’s been showing itself a while. How do I get rid of this monster? HOW AM I NOT AUTOMATICALLY THINKING ABOUT HIS FEELINGS?!

This week has been rough, because along with all the wedding stuff, Eddy went back to work and we’ve both had to change our schedules. I’ve had to walk Han more during the day, wake up earlier and leave work earlier. I feel spread SOOOO thin this week and barely been getting sleep, so I really blew up last night after a massage. I guess a lot of negative energy I’d been harboring manifested in a stiff neck that took forever to make feel better. My shoulder still hurts where Jackie massaged out a gigantic, stubborn knot.

Ugh I always feel like I’m really starting to see from other people’s perspectives and care about others, but Eddy just opened my eyes to the fact that… no I’m not. In theory I am because I appreciate watching shows and reading books about it, but am I really walking the walk? I may seem like I am to other people but… apparently I’m not.

I didn’t even think about Eddy’s feelings about the whole situation. He brought up that I wasn’t thinking about Han’s either. He said this has been the hardest week of Han’s life…the equivalent of humans just out of school getting their ass kicked by reality, and for some reason I was still getting angry and complaining about my own shit. Poor Han really has been through a lot this week… being left at home alone for the longest he’s ever been.

And poor Eddy has never even really been separated from him since he was 8 weeks old. Although he always liked Han, it still took him a while to get used to the fact that he’s a different dog than Einstein, and I know that made him really sad for a while. But since then he’s become really attached to Han… being like… his dog mama. Working from home he was with him all the time, and apparently not being with Han has been weighing on Eddy’s heart a lot this week, but I didn’t even know.

I asked Eddy why he doesn’t complain about stuff, and gosh it hurt MY heart to hear that he assumes I would just know by now. And how, if I’m still acting envious of him I really don’t understand him as much as he thought I did. AFTER ALL THIS TIME ELORA REALLY!?!?!? I DON’T EVEN DESERVE TO MARRY HIM WTTTFF!!!!

I really hate my personality types sometimes… really in times like this it brings me solace to know that I’m a type 7/ENFP because I’m reminded that my mind isn’t broken, it just needs a little help (Eddy said that too.. so nice T_T). I’m naturally just so all over the place and noncommittal that it might not be a natural part of my DNA to understand how to truly care about people. I DO of course but…man maybe it was also being an only child that made me so self centered. I think I have gotten at least a little better over time but geez… this damage is taking a hard time to reverse, and it’s so upsetting to me that Eddy is feeling all of it.

I need to get my shit together… no I should stop saying that. That doesn’t mean shit. I DO need to start feeling truly empathetic rather than think of it in the hypothetical sense. And I ESPECIALLY need to start taking care of Eddy more. It makes me so sad that he doesn’t even wanna “bother me” with his feelings/problems because I’m always so goddamn busy with other shit that’s way less important. He told me today that his stomach has been hurting for days and he thinks he has an ulcer! And I’m like WTF WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING!? HE DIDN’T WANNA BOTHER ME!!! I ALSO need to stop caring so much about the surface stuff. Eddy says “you gotta stem the tide!” meaning… when I feel an emotion or get overwhelmed by these waves of thoughts, I need to learn to diffuse them by breaking it down into smaller thoughts that are a lot less overwhelming. HOW IS EDDY EVEN STILL WITH ME!??! Gosh I’m such a pain in the ass and lucky he’s so patient and has stuck around

God I can’t wait till this wedding is over. I’m really discovering a LOT that I need to work on ;___; Getting a puppy + wedding combo is really doing a number on me… but I DO feel like it’s forcing me to level up. I guess I’m just on the grind right now… but I believe it’ll get better. Just gotta stay positive and lear from my mistakes. Man this shit should be part of my vows.